Birder discovers a new whale species

The story came out of Alaska: birder discovers a new species of mammal, a very large species.

The story is two years old, recently offered on an American Birding Association blog.

Found was a new whale species, known so far only by its scientific name: Beradius beringiae. It's a member of the beaked whale family.

Birder Christian Hagenlocher conducting research on islands in the Bering Sea, discovered the dead mammal washed ashore on St. George Island

Birding on St. George is uncommon. Most birders go to a companion island, St. Paul's. It worked for Hagenlocher, though: he was in the midst of a North American Big Year quest.

He didn't recognize the whale. He took photos, giving those and his description to Karin Holser, a mammal biologist working with seals on both islands.

She also could not give the whale a name. She sent photos to biologists in Alaska and beyond. An identity was established. The whale was unknown but technically not undiscovered. An unidentified skeleton in an island school, tissue samples in a Japanese museum, and stories told by Japanese whalers, all belonged to the new creature. Three mysteries solved.

Birding on St. George turned out to be pretty good. Hagenlocher saw a female Smew, Whiskered Auklet, several stints, Gray-tailed Tattler, King Eider, and a pair of eurasian (white-fronted) type Barn Swallows.

He went home with a longer list and a very good story.